The UAW also made damn good cars for some sixty years but they also helped build the middle class. Their big mistake was losing clout by divorcing AFL-CIO.
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What does their past good deeds have to do with anything. No one is denying that unions played a critical role in this nations history by fighting for workers rights. The problem is that they are no longer concerned with protecting jobs, they have lost focus and are more concerned with getting a bunch of benefits that end up causing the cars to be sold at a loss which isn't good for anyone. Admittedly they have recently made some major concessions but only because they were all but forced to by congress. They should have been working with the automakers long ago to strengthen the business not undermine it.
Don't get me wrong this isn't just the UAWs fault, there is plenty of blame to go around I am just saying that just because the union did some good things years ago doesn't change the fact that they have done considerable harm to the industry more recently.